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Senate leader just delivered a stark warning about GOP’s midterm chances

Senate Minority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has fears about the Nov. 3 election, which is now just 62 days away.

Speaking to his local CBS affiliate, KELO-TV, Thune said he is less concerned about losing the legislative filibuster than about the GOP majority in the Senate.

“I worry about that, for sure,” Thune said. “I’m a realist, and I just think you, I don’t ever try and sugarcoat things. I think it’s a competitive environment right now. I think we got the highest-quality candidates.”

There are a number of reasons for it, Thune said, though they all tie back to President Donald Trump's policies.

“I’m sympathetic to what he’s trying to get done,” Thune said about importing foreign beef at a time of shrinking support workforce for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Thune doesn't appear to support the idea.

“He’s trying to lower beef prices, which I think we’re all supportive of. I just don’t think this is the way to do it. And so, we have a lot of beef producers here in South Dakota; they produce the highest-quality beef in the world, and we’re trying to build our herds back up," he explained.

In the wide-ranging interview, Tune celebrated Trump's Iran war, claiming it's been "very successful."

“The challenge we have right now is Strait of Hormuz and the economic impact that’s having on gas prices in this country, and that’s where keeping it open and making sure that the Iranians can’t restrict or tax or toll in international waterway is really important," he told KELO.

The Strait of Hormuz had never been closed before the bombing campaign by the U.S. CBS News showed a huge drop-off from tankers making their way from Iran to the rest of the world in the first few months of the war. Wall Street financier Steve Rattner posted a more recent account of where traffic is today using the IMF's PortWatch. While there was an uptick during the ceasefire, that has now turned down again.

Thune also appeared to disagree somewhat on data centers. While he supports them, he also wants them to be blocked from using any power and water from local communities. He said companies shouldn't try to shove their centers down the throats of localities that don't want them there.

“These entities need to be self-sufficient,” Thune said. “They ought to be able to take care of their own utilities, their own power, and that ought to be a given any place they go in the country. But they shouldn’t be going places where there isn’t support for them at the local level.”

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Top Republican stuck managing pack of 'idiots' and 'lunatics': Rick Wilson

Senate Majority Leader John Thune could very well be at his wit's end, per conservative commentator Rick Wilson, as President Trump has saddled him with the job of managing a caucus full of "idiots" and "lunatics," and a midterm cycle that keeps "falling apart."

Wilson is a former Republican political strategist and operative, who has emerged in the last decade as a prolific conservative critic of Trump and the MAGA movement, helping to cofound The Lincoln Project. On Monday, he appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the "Fast Politics" podcast with host Molly Jong-Fast, where he discussed and dissected the many developments surrounding the president in the last week.

Chief among those developments was the unprecedented GOP midterm convention, where Trump made himself the center of attention at a time when voters are increasingly sick of him. Jong-Fast made particular note of Trump's baffling promise to send $5,000 checks to every American adult should the GOP keep the House and Senate in November, something that was almost immediately dodged by Thune when journalists pressed him about the possibility.

"Tell me what is happening in John Thune's brain right now," she asked Wilson, he was acquainted with the South Dakota senator during the pre-Trump days.

"'Dear Lord, let the sweet meteor of death plunge to earth and take me now,' is what is going through his brain," Wilson responded, to which Jong-Fast added that he must be "so f—— pissed."

He continued: "Listen, I know Thune from the before times... He was a conservative, but he was never a crazy. He was never on the fringe. He was a classical Reagan/Bush conservative. Not a lunatic, right? Now he's been given the impossible assignment of handling a group of lunatics inside his caucus. If you wake up in the morning, you've got to deal with Cynthia Lummis and Tommy Tuberville and Ted Cruz and all these other idiots."

Wilson added that Thune has spent an "enormous amount of political capital trying to arrange races this year" to try and maintain the GOP's Senate majority, something that is no longer seen as a guarantee, with the party dragged down by Trump and Democrats gaining momentum.

"Why? Because of Donald Trump," Wilson argued. "They thought in Iowa, 'Ashley Hinson, what a safe bet. Blonde, Republican, she'll be fine. No, it's not a big deal.' And yet that campaign is falling apart on them because of Trump. And Maine, Susan Collins, if Donald Trump's name was Donald Smith and he was a semi-regular Republican, Susan Collins would win by 20 points. Not going to happen."

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Thune doubles down on Trump's 'dubious' mega-MAGA strategy

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) doubled down on President Donald Trump’s “mega-MAGA” campaign schedule that will bring the latter through some of the country’s reddest voting regions in an attempt to rally his base for the midterms. According to analysts, however, this “dubious strategy” will fail to bolster support where the GOP needs it most – swing states full of voters disappointed by the president’s “second-term failures.”

“I think that the president and his team, as they look at the electoral map, are figuring out where they think he can make the biggest difference,” said Thune when asked by reporters why Trump’s schedule focuses on Republican strongholds rather than battlegrounds. “Obviously all across the country, we need the president to turn out voters that are his voters. In a non-presidential year, in a midterm election, the challenge is always voter turnout, and in this case you have a lot of voters out there who might not be inclined to get out and vote. The president going out there and telling them how important it is will help turn those voters out, whether it’s in a red state, a swing state, or a blue state.”

According to longtime political commentator Ed Kilgore, “This dubious strategy might have made some sense if the president was hyperfocused on producing an (improbable) mega-MAGA turnout in the highly competitive states where a backlash to his second-term failures has made a Democratic Congress all but certain. Instead, his travel schedule has him flying around to campaign for the GOP in deep-red territory.”

“Those are all scheduling decisions the White House is making,” said Thune, “but I think they intend to deploy the president in ways that will help us achieve the best possible outcome in this election, and that is to preserve and protect our majority in the United States Senate and the majority in the House.” Thune’s statement adds weight to reports that the GOP is increasingly concerned about its vulnerability in the Senate.

“This very week,” notes Kilgore, “Trump is campaigning in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ohio — states he carried by 30 percent, 34 percent and 11 percent just two years ago.” The fact that there are vulnerable House seats in Alabama and Oklahoma, he argues, is “a sign of how deep a hole the GOP has dug for itself. A trip to Ohio is arguably more justifiable; there are highly endangered but still winnable Senate and House races along with a close gubernatorial contest.” But by focusing on red states – “including Iowa and Texas, where there are an extraordinary number of ‘fires’ scorching Republican candidates – Trump reduces efforts in purple states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

“The 2026 midterms are to a very dangerous extent being fought on the home turf of the president’s party, leaving too much highly contested ground uncovered,” concludes Kilgore. “And it’s beginning to look like Trump in particular may be simply trying to mitigate losses rather than to win, which for a politician obsessed with ‘winning’ is a terrible sign.”

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Republican leader lashes out at Karoline Leavitt

Republican Senate Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wasn't happy with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt after her Thursday press conference.

According to Leavitt, President Donald Trump's "patience is running out."

She explained that the president wants his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act (SAVE America Act) passed before the lawmakers leave for the August recess.

"The House did its job," said Leavitt. "The Senate needs to do its job, too."

Thune lashed out at Leavitt while speaking to reporters, "Well, maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes. Right?"

The only way to pass the voter restrictions is to break a filibuster with a 60-vote majority or eliminate the filibuster entirely.

Right-leaning White House correspondent for the Daily Wire, Mary Margaret Olohan, cited Thune in an X post, saying that votes for the bill currently stand at about 50 out of the 53 Republican Senators. The bill would require the president to work across the aisle with Democrats to pass it, but it's not something Trump has needed to do, as Republicans hold the majority in both houses.

Thune wants the White House to target Democrats, not to make the bill bipartisan but to attack them for the filibuster threats.

"Instead of pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats," Thune raged. "And if there are Republicans that they think are gettable, get on the phone. Let’s get them to ‘yes.’"

The House attached the legislation to a budget bill. The Senate parliamentarian had said that the SAVE America Act can't be attached to a funding bill, but Republicans in the House found a way around it. The House bill includes $10 billion in funding that would essentially pay states through financial incentives to comply with pieces of the SAVE America Act. It would not, however, turn it into law.

A budget bill can pass the Senate without needing the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Republicans in the House also attached a portion of the SAVE America Act to a ban on members of Congress trading stocks.

According to the voting rights site Democracy Docket, "Despite Republican control of the Senate, it is unlikely that Trump will see any version of SAVE enacted ahead of the midterms. Legislation passed through reconciliation must be budgetary in nature. The Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s procedural umpire, ruled last month that the SAVE America provisions did not fit the bill, leading Trump to call for her ouster."

Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio asked Thune why the White House would come after him like that and if he thinks the White House is setting him up as the fall guy for 2026 election failures.

“I wish I had a good answer for that," Thune said.

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GOP accused of 'elaborate cover-up' to hide Mitch McConnell's condition

On Thursday, a prominent political analyst warned that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senate staffers are engaged in an "ongoing, elaborate cover-up" to conceal the cognitive decline of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). This is according to political science professor Tom Schaller, who warned that McConnell is "obviously and irreversibly incapacitated" and that Republicans are going to "absurd" lengths to hide it.

"Mitch McConnell is unfit to serve in the US Senate and should resign immediately — that is, presuming he’s lucid enough to wittingly make that decision," writes Schaller, asserting that the Senator's "profound cognitive decline" is "indisputable," and that "his staffers and Senate majority leader John Thune’s office are violating the public’s trust by pretending McConnell can ably serve his constituents and the nation." In Schaller's estimation, "McConnell would never be allowed to drive a car, babysit young children, or file his own taxes. Why, then, should a cognitively incapacitated 82-year-old retain one of the most important positions of power within the national government?"

According to Schaller, "What’s galling about McConnell’s case is that his family and staff shielded him from public view for three months," as he and his staff were collecting salaries and benefits all the while. This and other recent cases suggest, says Schaller, that "there should be some means other than impeachment to remove members of Congress derelict for extended periods, whether by choice or incapacitation." Strangely, while the U.S. has such a mechanism to remove the president, the situation is harder for Congress. And there are multiple cases of lawmakers on the lamb. Schaller points to the examples of "Republican House members Kay Granger of Texas and Tom Kean of New Jersey. Granger, who in 2023 disappeared from public view and ceased to cast votes in Congress well into 2024, had been living in a memory care institution that specializes in dementia. More recently, Kean abandoned his duties for four months to battle depression."

"Granger then and McConnell now have almost zero chance of cognitive recovery. Citizens can express empathy for members of Congress battling cognitive decline yet also expect them to resign when a politician’s incapacitation causes an extended absence." According to Schaller, it is apparent that "McConnell has reached that point. Recall that he twice froze like a zombie during a press availability. Unable to speak or react in any sentient way, nervous staffers had to whisk McConnell away from the cameras. Clearly, he was incapacitated before he was hospitalized three months ago."

Now, alleges Schaller, faced with the prospect of losing the Senator's voting power, "his staff and Thune’s Senate majority office are engaged in an ongoing, elaborate cover-up." With all this in mind, Schaller concludes, "The politicians and staffers closest to him should have the decency to allow him to retire peacefully among family and friends. Instead, they’re propping him up like the title character in 'Weekend at Bernie’s,' a revolting disservice to the Senator, his Kentucky constituents, Congress, and the American public."

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Fox News host begs Trump to ‘acknowledge’ reality: The ‘chaos’ is ‘real’

On Friday, one of the top hosts at Fox News warned Republicans that voters are “just not” buying President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that all is well with the economy. This is according to Fox business analyst Stuart Varney, who asserted, “Voters are not picking up on his positive economic message. They're just not. Why?”

“The president is saying that we're doing great, but don't tell me we're doing great,” complained Varney’s guest. “Explain why.” In his estimation, the White House should take advice offered recently by veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove. “Focus. I don't want to hear about the Kennedy Center. I don't want to hear about a triumphal arch.” He asserts that if Trump has good news about the economy, he should explain it to voters. What’s more, he said, Trump should “acknowledge that their pain at the pump is real. Their pain in the pantry is real. The chaos at the kitchen table is real.”

This plea comes as the Republican Party faces historic losses in the upcoming midterms and voters express that their top frustration is the economic woes caused by Trump’s war with Iran. The president has been consistently dismissive of such concerns, calling affordability complaints that arose even before the war a Democratic “hoax,” and telling reporters on Thursday that he rates himself “an A+ on the government, on economics, on everything.”

According to Politico, “Trump has twice this week appeared to blame his own team for failing to communicate all the positives he’s achieved since taking office nearly two years ago. On Thursday, he added that ‘the press isn’t treating us fairly.’ But with stubbornly persistent inflation, gas above $4.40 a gallon and mortgage rates above 7 percent, even Republicans in ruby-red states are facing headwinds that could blow them from office. The president’s grade comes as affordability remains a major vulnerability for Republicans on the ballot this November. An AP-NORC poll released Thursday found just 26 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy and 17 percent approve of his handling of the cost of living. Sixty-five percent said Trump’s policies are contributing to higher-than-usual prices.”

As a result, analysts predict that Democrats are almost certain to flip the House, and Republicans are increasingly worried that their majority in the Senate is threatened, even seeming to all but give up on key Senate seats. On Friday, for example, it was reported that the GOP is cancelling tens of millions of dollars in ads, apparently giving up on retaining the state in favor of shifting money to races it feels are still winnable. And despite Trump’s attempt to dismiss economic concerns, Republicans are talking about it openly.

“Right now the races are more about affordability issues,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). “It's the price of diesel in places like Iowa and Kansas and Nebraska and the Midwest, Minnesota. I think that's the issue, and what's happening is Iran has trumped everything else that's going on.”

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Republican 'panic' as senator corners Trump over relentless GOP targeting

A meeting between President Donald Trump, Republican senators and a cabal of GOP operatives lapsed into “uncomfortable territory” when conservative lawmakers revealed the question that was really on their minds: when would Trump stop attacking his own party and start taking the midterms seriously?

According to new reporting from Politico, the showdown happened during a closed-door meeting on midterms messaging that was held by GOP political operatives James Blair, Alex Latcham, and pollster Tony Fabrizio. As the Daily Beast explains, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) “cornered Trump’s team, demanding to know when the president would finally pivot from bashing fellow Republicans to targeting political opponents. The Montana lawmaker’s question captured a growing panic inside the GOP, where lawmakers are privately exasperated by Trump’s relentless feuds with other members of his party, even as vulnerable Democrats escape his wrath.”

This prompted more senators to take up the issue. Senate Majority Leader John Thune raised the urgent need to secure swing voters in Maine, Michigan and North Carolina, while Latcham tried to reassure all present that the White House, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and MAGA Inc. are all tightly coordinated.

According to the Daily Beast, “Trump’s foreign policy obsessions have also hijacked his party’s political agenda. Back in January, his intense fixation on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro triggered widespread frustration among aides and lawmakers who wanted him focused on inflation and healthcare … White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, her then deputy James Blair — who took a leave of absence in April to run Trump’s outside political and midterm operations — and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly had to steer internal meetings back to domestic concerns.”

“Months later,” the Beast continues, “Trump has swapped Venezuela for an ongoing war in Iran — and voters are punishing Republicans for the fallout. A fresh Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 37 percent of registered voters now trust Democrats to handle the economy compared to 36 percent for Republicans, marking the first time Democrats have led on economic stewardship since May 2017. The economic drag is hitting Americans directly at the pump, with national gas prices jumping to around $4.06 per gallon — nearly 40 percent higher than the $2.98 drivers paid on Feb. 27, right before Trump launched his war on Iran.”

For these and other reasons, Trump has seen an exodus of support not only among independent voters, but also among his most vital voting blocs like white people and the working class. As a result, a growing number of Republicans are expressing open concern about their midterm chances as analysts warn of an approaching “doomsday scenario.”

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Republicans say Trump’s 'guaranteed death' is coming if he gets his way

While President Donald Trump has been vocal about his desire for his party to nuke the filibuster and force through his sprawling voter ID bill, a number of Republican Senators are presenting a rare show of opposition, arguing that the move would mean “guaranteed death” for the GOP agenda. This is according to political reporter Savannah Behrmann, who writes in Roll Call of the “not-so-secret” society of Republican Senators openly pushing to maintain the filibuster.

“I’m going to make myself a T-shirt that says, 'No, I’m not interested in blowing up the filibuster,'" declared Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). And Senator John Curtis (R-UT) was similarly firm on his position, writing in the Wall Street Journal, "Under no circumstance will I support any effort to end or alter the filibuster, as any party that does so wouldn’t be guaranteed survival. Their agenda would be guaranteed death come the next majority."

Proponents consider the filibuster vital for whichever party happens to be in the minority. Overcoming a filibuster requires a 60 vote majority, which has stymied a number of Trump’s most demanded legislative priorities, including his SAVE Act, which would impose wide-ranging changes on elections across the country. Were Republicans to “nuke” the filibuster by using a procedural maneuver that would allow them to pass bills with a simple majority of 51, it would also open the door for Democrats to do the same when they retake the majority. As a result, Republicans have been open about the fact that there aren’t enough of them who are willing to make such a move.

As Behrmann explains, “For Majority Leader John Thune, the equation is not new: The math isn’t mathing, and there has never been enough support in his conference to establish a new precedent and lower the 60-vote hurdle most bills must clear to advance to a simple majority threshold. Those numbers are hardly a secret, but some are reluctant to take a public stance when it means defying the party’s president. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told Politico this summer that more Republicans oppose the so-called nuclear option than are willing to say so. ‘I regret that the other 25 or 30 people who oppose blowing up the filibuster don’t say it out loud like I do, because it leaves the impression that there are only four or five of us, just enough so that he doesn’t have 51,’ Cramer said.”

According to Behrmann, “The fight is not a new one. Both parties have tried to turn the Senate’s rules and practices to their advantage, with Democrats under Majority Leader Harry Reid ending the 60-vote threshold for most presidential nominees in 2013, and Republicans doing the same for Supreme Court nominees in 2017. But the filibuster for legislation has remained intact. In 2017, a bipartisan group of 61 senators, led in part by Susan Collins of Maine, penned a letter urging then-Leader Mitch McConnell to preserve it.”

“We are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor,” they wrote. Of that group, more than a dozen of the Republicans are still serving in the Senate today, including Thune.

“That must be a different form of math,” Thune said Wednesday of Trump’s insistence the majority leader has the votes to pass the SAVE America Act.

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The GOP's secret anti-Trump brigade is running out of time

While a small band of congressional Republicans has become “increasingly defiant” toward President Donald Trump and shown a growing willingness to stymie his “worst instincts,” the Senate could soon become “more Trumpy.” This is according to the Economist, which on Thursday shared its assessment of Republican infighting as the midterms loom.

“Congress remains largely pliant to Mr Trump,” writes the Economist. “But a small band of Republican senators are increasingly defiant.” This has made it difficult for Trump to push through his agenda, as Republican holdouts have forced him to narrow his controversial “slush fund” settlement and shot down his demand to nuke the filibuster in order to pass his election overhaul bill, the SAVE Act. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has spoken on no uncertain terms about the matter, saying, “Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster. It’s just a fact, and the facts don’t change.”

According to the Economist, “Thune is also loath to use the budgetary tool known as reconciliation as a workaround. The Senate would need only a simple majority to pass parts of the SAVE Act using reconciliation, but the process is meant primarily for spending measures. That procedural reason is matched by a political one: reconciliation would force vulnerable lawmakers to make contentious votes right before the midterms. Senate Republicans ‘have no intention of putting skin in the game on Trump’s behalf,’ explains a Republican operative.”

The Economist notes, however, that many of these holdouts are either leaving office soon or likely to do so. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), for example, “are on their way out, so have little to lose and are picking more fights.” Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) has also resisted some of Trump’s moves, but faces a strong Democratic challenge in November.

What’s more, the outgoing senators could result in an important compositional change for the Republican conference. As The Economist explains, “The seats occupied by Mr Tillis and Mr Cornyn will next year be held either by Democrats or MAGA newcomers. Two other Republicans leaving the Senate, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, will almost certainly be succeeded by acolytes of Mr Trump. In Louisiana Julia Letlow was personally recruited by the president, while Kentucky’s Andy Barr has vowed ‘to stand with President Trump 100 percent’.”

“The Senate will become more Trumpy, ideologically,” predicts Matthew Glassman of Georgetown University. This will have major consequences for the Party.

“As the Senate’s MAGA wing gains greater influence, Mr Thune’s job will get even more difficult,” asserts the Economist. For example, Trump-ally Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is poised to be the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee next year. He and other Trump-aligned senators may push for Thune to accept controversial nominees or even give in should Trump attempt to re-establish the slush fund, “as Republican strategists murmur that he will.”

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GOP leader dumps cold water on another Trump obsession

President Donald Trump has renewed his push for a bill that would implement permanent Daylight Saving Time, but according to The Hill, a top Senate Republican has dumped cold water on the bill's chances, once again pulling the president back to reality.

As he struggles with widespread voter antipathy to most of his agenda, Trump is once again pushing for the Sunshine Protection Act as he looks for ideas that voters are generally supportive of. If the legislation passed and went into effect, the U.S. would operate under permanent Daylight Saving Time, ending the need to change the clocks twice a year. While many Americans can get behind the idea of ending that annoying practice, others, including numerous lawmakers in Congress, have warned of the drawbacks, including pitch-dark winter mornings and disrupted sleep patterns.

That pushback from lawmakers seems to have doomed the bill's prospects for the time being, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week that it has "no clear path forward," despite Trump's pressure.

“The president feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues,” Thune said in an interview. “It’s something we’re having conversations about but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet.”

As The Hill noted, Thune also expressed opposition to the bill earlier this year, citing the detrimental impact it would have on his home state of South Dakota.

"I’m from a northern clime,” he told reporters. “I voted against it in committee."

Thune has frequently stood his ground against Trump's pressure campaigns over the course of his second term, notably putting his foot down to insist that the SAVE America Act lacked the support to pass in the Senate without nuking filibuster rules. That bill would have implemented sweeping changes to voter registration requirements, as part of Trump's long-term crusade against voter fraud that he falsely insists is widespread.

The Sunshine Protection Act previously passed in the House with bipartisan support, 308 to 117, in July, before running into the current roadblock in the Senate.

As Trump pushed for the bill to pass prior to Election Day, he took to Truth Social in a series of posts deriding the practice of changing the clocks, and seeming to imply that a large part of his passion for the change was because the change to permanent DST would benefit golfers.

"A ridiculous Clock changing process that takes place twice a year, costs our Country a fortune, is bad for Crime, stress on people, Sports, and just about everything else you can imagine,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday. “People don’t want to go around changing their Clocks anymore and, besides, far and away, most people like having an hour of extra sunlight in the evening, rather than in the morning."

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MAGA keeps wishing the GOP had rigged the election

Over the course of Tuesday evening, as it became increasingly clear that the GOP was taking an electoral shellacking of historic proportions, a slew of MAGA voices took to social media to bemoan the fact that Republicans hadn’t rigged the election. According to these MAGA influencers and commentators, the GOP’s midterm massacre wasn’t the result of President Donald Trump’s wild unpopularity or harmful policies, but because their party failed to pass a bill that would allow them to seize control of the election. What’s more, they frequently direct their ire at a specific Republican.

“Call me crazy,” posted MAGA influencer Matt Van Swol. “But maybe the Senate should have passed the SAVE Act.” He also posted a photo of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), declaring, “This man was handed a once-in-a-generation golden opportunity to change the country for the better...instead he blocked Trump at every turn, sent the Senate on weeks OF vacation and refused to pass the SAVE Act. What a vile human being.”

The SAVE America Act was a bill pushed hard by Trump and his election-denying allies that would have given the federal government far-reaching control over state elections, even though the Constitution explicitly empowers states to manage them. Different versions of the proposed bill had different elements, but typically included strict ID rules for registering and voting as well as the federalization of voter roll databases. Opponents argued that this would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, disproportionately target certain groups, unconstitutionally wrest election control from the states, and was unnecessary as it primarily sought to address the vanishingly rare cases of non-citizen voting. And many have suggested that it would give the Trump administration expansive abilities to control and meddle in various aspects of elections. Trump was desperate to pass the bill earlier in the year as it became increasingly clear that the GOP had a midterm problem, and now that the midterms have come and gone, his followers are asserting it was the only way they could have won.

“I think it would have been a good idea to pass the SAVE America Act,” noted MAGA influencer Scott Presler. “All Republicans had to do was pass the SAVE Act,” agreed former West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans, who was forced to resign for his role in the January 6 insurrection. “Remember when Republicans chose not to push through the SAVE Act to ensure electoral integrity?” mused MAGA commentator David Vance. “We could’ve had the Save America Act,” fumed Libs of TikTok over a photo of Thune. Kristan Hawkins, president of a far-right students’ group, agreed that he was the culprit, posting, “John Thune and the Senate GOP could have saved our nation by passing the SAVE Act. Instead, they betrayed us.”

Many MAGA voices asserted that the GOP took its historic midterm beating because voters wanted to punish them for their failure to pass the bill, but exit polling showed no mention of this. Instead, voters made it clear that they were voting as a direct rebuke of Trump, citing concerns about the economy, healthcare, the war with Iran, corruption and the state of democracy.

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